Tesla robotaxi miles drop 36% in Q2 despite expansion

Tesla's robotaxi operations suffered a significant setback in the second quarter, with paid miles traveled dropping by 36% despite the company expanding its autonomous ride-hailing service to new cities. The decline, revealed in Tesla's own quarterly figures, marks a reversal for a program that CEO Elon Musk has touted as a future revenue driver.

The drop affects Tesla's robotaxi fleet and its customers who use the service, as well as investors who have been betting on autonomous driving as a key growth area. The 36% decrease in paid miles comes even as Tesla added new cities to its robotaxi network, suggesting that expansion alone is not enough to boost usage.

This matters because Tesla has staked much of its long-term valuation on the promise of a fully autonomous robotaxi network. Musk has repeatedly claimed that Tesla vehicles would achieve full self-driving capability and generate billions in revenue from a fleet of robotaxis. The second-quarter numbers cast doubt on that timeline and on consumer adoption of the current system.

According to Tesla's figures, the company reported a total of 1.2 million paid robotaxi miles in Q2 2025, down from 1.9 million in Q1. The service is currently available in Austin, Texas, and several other U.S. cities. Tesla did not specify which cities were added in Q2 or how many vehicles are in the fleet.

The company has faced regulatory hurdles and safety concerns, with federal investigations into crashes involving its Autopilot and Full Self-Driving systems. In April, Tesla recalled over 3,600 Cybertrucks due to an accelerator pedal issue, though that recall was not directly related to robotaxis.

Looking ahead, Tesla plans to unveil a dedicated robotaxi vehicle, the Cybercab, at an event in October. However, the Q2 decline suggests that even if the hardware is ready, convincing the public to use robotaxis may be a bigger challenge. Analysts expect Tesla to provide more details on its robotaxi strategy during its next earnings call in July.